Folded paper articles



June 12, 1934.

5. J. CAMPBELL FOLDED PAPER ARTICLES Filed July 28, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l f f jam/ J 07%;? 1 WM 10M w m June 1934. s. J. CAMPBELL.

FOLDED PAPER ARTICLES Filed .July 28, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 12, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in folded paper articles. The invention has particular application to paper napkins, paper towels, and the like.

It is the primary object of the invention to provide a folded paper article which, in its folded condition, will be of uniform thickness throughout its area, will provide numerous folds on each of its faces which may be grasped by the consumer, and which will open itself readily when grasped at any point.

It has been proposed heretofore to provide tabs or folds which the consumer may grasp to withdraw a napkin or towel from a stack. Generally, however, there is only one such fold or tab exposed on each face of the napkin, and it has been characteristic of the folds of the prior art that the napkin or towel is opened with difficulty when manipulated by the tab or fold provided for grasping purposes.

The desirable results of the product herein disclosed are accomplished by using a special form of pleat. I am aware that paper articles have heretofore been pleated either before or after folding. Accordion pleats have heretofore been used. These, however, have not been satisfactory for the purposes of the present invention since they have neither provided grasping tabs projecting from the face of the article, nor have facilitated the opening of the product. In both embodiments herein disclosed the form of pleat is new and is such that one side of the pleat is longer than the other, whereby successive pleats are offset to make the folded product of uniform thickness and to provide a series of grasping tabs closely spaced throughout all exposed surfaces of the product.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a sheet upon which the lines of folding in accordance with this invention are indicated in dotted lines.

Figure 2 is a view on an enlarged scale showing in perspective the initial pleated fold made in the r sheet of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a view in perspective showing the Fig. 2 article as it appears when fully folded upon a transverse line to reduce its overall dimensions.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic View of a sheet used in the construction of a different embodiment of d the invention, the sheet and the lines of fold being substantially identical with Fig. 1, but the direction of fold being different as shown in the succeeding view.

Figure 5 is an enlarged view showing in perspective a second embodiment of this invention as folded from the sheet of Fig. 4.

Figure 6 shows in perspective the Fig. 5 article reduced in size by transverse fold.

Figure '7 shows in perspective the appearance of the product resulting if the transverse fold of the Fig. 5 device is made in the opposite direc tion from that of Fig. 6.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

It will be understood upon comparison of Figs. 1 and 4 that in each instance the products embodying this invention are made from a like sheet or piece 8 of material folded upon longitudinal parallel lines 9 and preferably ultimately folded upon a transverse line 10. In each instance the lines 9 are so located that the rectilinear areas 11 are of substantially uniform size and the areas 12 are likewise uniform with respect to each other but are substantially double the area of sections 11.

In each of the embodiments herein disclosed the sheet is initially pleated, and in each instance the section comprising one side of the pleat is substantially twice the length of the section comprising the other side of the sheet, so thatv the pleats are successively offset instead of being aligned as in accordion pleating.

In the construction shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the first two sections 11 are folded upon themselves and folded to overlie the left hand side 'of the first section 12. The next section 11 underlies the first section 12 and overlies the second section 12. This relation of the intermediate short sections 11 to the wide sections 12 holds true of each successive pleat, so that in eachinstance the wide sections 12 originate beneath the previously folded material and are exposed above the subsequently folded material, as viewed from left to right. The final sections 11 underlie the final broad section 12. Thus, the entire article shown in Fig. 2 is 3-ply in thickness and, regardless of which side may be uppermost, it is impossible to grasp it at any point without'finding either a margin or a fold line closely adjacent tothe hand so that the napkin may readily be seized and'withdrawn from the stack or container.

Preferably, the size of the napkin will'be reduced in a more orless conventional manner by making an additional foldlO to'produce the product shown in Fig. 3. In the Fig. 3 product the same convenience of grasp is preserved. It is one of the peculiar characteristics of a product folded as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 that regardless of the point at which the product is grasped, it

11 being folded to the interior.

will immediately open wide upon withdrawal from the stack or holder. Its operation in this respect appears to be'very materially superior to that of any other known fold. The alternating broad and narrow sections seem to facilitate this action.

In the construction shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6, and '7, somewhat similar advantages are to be noted. In this embodiment the first two sections 11 are folded to underlie the first broad section 12. The third section 11 is identical with that shown in Fig. 2, but the fourth section 11 overlies the second section 12, so that sections 12 are alternately upon the top face and the bottom face of the folded product. The result is a kind of double box pleat in which, as in the embodiment first described, the alternating wider sections 12 are used to advance the pleating successively from left to right so as to provide a transverse series of pleats throughout the entire article.

If the article shown in Fig. 5 is folded in one direction upon the line 10, the product shown in Fig. 6 will result, the initial and terminal sections If the initial and terminal sections 11 are folded to the exterior, the product shown in Fig. '7 will result. The Figs. 5, 6, and 7 embodiments of the invention open readily, as does the embodiment shown in Figs. 2 and 3 but, of course, there will be a lesser number of folds or tabs available to the grasp of the operator, and consequently the embodiments shown in Figs. 2 and 3 are preferred. In both embodiments, however, the initial product, be-

- fore the transverse fold is made, has a uniform thickness of three plies throughout its extent and is therefore capable of being made into solid and uniform stacks or packages.

Furthermore, notwithstanding the novelty of the folds herein disclosed, these napkins may be used in conjunction with known packaging and dispensing equipment, since a proper determination of the number and areas of the sections 11 and 12 will enable any desired size of folded product to be produced.

I claim:

1. A folded paper article of uniform thickness having intermediary of its side margins a plurality of alternating narrow and wide strip-like sections defined by fold lines in the paper so disposed as to provide pleats which are successively offset by the wide sections from preceding pleats and presenting a plurality of exposed folded grasping margins intermediate of the side margins parallel with the pleats and on opposite sides of a center line substantially parallel with said pleats and margins whereby the article may be grasped at various points in its central portion and such portion withdrawn from a stack in advance of its marginal portions.

2. A folded paper article of napkin or towel type comprising a sheet folded to provide a plurality of marginal and intermediate pleats extending from margin to margin in one direction and doubled upon itself along a central line transverse to the pleats, said pleats being formed to provide an article of uniform thickness with in termediate pleats exposed and adapted to be grasped at any fold line, said pleats being formed to transmit withdrawing tension, from the pleat which is grasped, toward the side pleats and the associated free end of the sheet with a tendency to release one end and two associated side margin substantially simultaneously when withdrawing the article from a stack.

3. A folded paper article comprising through out its intermediate portion alternating narrow and wide sections defined by fold lines in the paper so disposed as to provide intermediate pleats successively offset by the wide sections from preceding pleats and located on opposite sides of a center lineparallel with the pleats, the wider sections being substantially double the width of the narrower sections, whereby said portions will be of substantially uniform thickness throughout, and the side marginal portions of the article comprising narrow sections corresponding to those of the intermediate portions of the article and so folded as to make the side portions equivalent in thickness to the intermediate portions.

4. An article of the character described comprising a sheet having a plurality of substantially parallel fold lines intermediate of the parallel side marginal portions, each defining broad and narrow sections, the narrow sections adjacent each broad section being folded on two corresponding faces of said broad section, whereby to provide successively offset box pleats on alternately opposite faces of the article, the margins of the article being additionally pleated to uniform thickness by the addition of narrow sections terminating flush with the fold line of the final broader sections, said article being folded intermediate the ends of the pleats to place said marginal narrow sections in the interior of the article.

5. An art'cle of the character described comprising a sheet having a plurality of substantially parallel fold lines intermediate of the parallel margins of the sheet and defining broad and narrow sections, the narrow sections adjacent each broad section being folded on two corresponding faces of said broad section, whereby to provide successively offset box pleats on alternately opposite faces of the article, said margins of the article being also pleated to uniform thick ness by the addition of narrow sections terminating flush with the folded line of the final broader sections and, said article being also folded transversely intermediate the ends of the pleats to bring said marginal narrow sections on the outside of the completed article.

6. A folded article of the character described comprising a paper sheet so folded as to be three plies in thickness throughout all portions of the sheet, the folds including a plurality of pleats 1 intermediate of the parallel side margins and the pleats being disposed to provide a plurality of grasping folds distributed over the center portion of the exposed face of the article and adapted to distribute withdrawing tension from the point grasped toward both side margins and the nearest end margin whereby the central portion may be initially separated from a stack or pile and its movements transmitted to side and end margins simultaneously.

7. The method of manufacturing a paper napkin, towel, and the like, which consists in pleating a sheet with pleats having alternate wide and narrow sections, whereby to produce successively oifset pleats intermediate of the parallel side margins, and forming a sufficient number of additional narrow sections at the margins, folded upon adjacent pleat sections, to make the resulting product uniform in thickness throughout its extent.

SAMUEL J. CAMPBELL.

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